15 Days of New Years Resolution ~ Day 4

Today's resolution by Jessica is "Fight the Frump."

Huh?

Yes, I said the same thing. Basically it's to lose weight, but it goes deeper than that. Jessica explains it as "having confidence, introducing a little more glamour and fashion into our lives, and looking healthy because we’re living a healthy lifestyle." Amen to that, sista!

For most people, losing weight will make them feel better about themselves. Also, if you watch shows like TLC's What Not To Wear, then you know it is a major DON'T to lose weight and not get rid of your old "fat" clothes simply because they are comfortable. If your body changes drastically, then you need a whole new wardrobe.

I am guilty as sin of this faux pas. I had my son last December, and when I found out I was pregnant last month it was not a big deal wardrobe-wise because I was still wearing (and keeping) ALL of my maternity clothes! Big no-no.

Well, being a stay-at-home mom for the past year, I have been slipping deeper and deeper into Frumpy Land. I only wear jeans when I am leaving the house, and on occasion I have been known to wear the same shirt or sweater over and over. There was also a time that I would only bathe with my son, and still neglect to wash my own hair! I am so busy worrying over every little aspect of his life, that I completely neglect myself. Even worse, I am right back in the loop this new year.

So, I am going to adopt this resolution to Fight the Frump and add it to my 43Things. Being pregnant and already in Frumpville (yes I changed the name, I can do that, I am mayor), it is going to take a lot of extra energy to achieve this goal in the next few months and then keep it up after the baby is born in April.

Well, I also have to spill the beans of my naughty little trick from today, because it goes along with helping me to Fight the Frump. Today, hubs and I finally paid off our layaway at KMart, and brought home all the items. That included the Wii Fit that I have been absolutely dying for. As soon as we make it home, yes, I begged hubby to set it up for me. (Don't worry I will save the box to wrap up so Mack will think that Santa brought it and set it up for us. LOL. She's at Grandma's until Sunday anyways.)

Yay I finally got my Wii Fit!

Although I am preggo, I couldn't set a goal to lose weight just yet, so I actually put it so my goal was to gain weight (yes it lets you do that, and you can change your goal every 2 weeks). I won't go into many details just yet, I will save them for my review, but I do like it and hubs and I have decided to work on it for 30 minutes twice a day (or at least him). He lost 1.8 pounds in only 30 minutes earlier today! Which, if accurate, is awesome!

Anyways, so yes the Wii Fit will be part of my routine to battle my Fibromayalgia, stregthen my mucles for childbirth, and then get my body back after April. I will Fight the Frump of being a stay-at-home mommy.

15 Days of New Years Resolution ~ Day 3

Getting Organized is a major hassle for about 90% of the people I know. And yes, I am included. Especially with a newly 1 year old running (yes running) around grabbing things, organization is void in my household.

However, Jessica is suggesting it, and I must adopt this one as well, because otherwise I may as well lose my sanity if I don't get all the papers, documents, etc in proper place.

Jessica identifies 3 main aspects to help anyone get organized (check out her posting for more in depth about each category):

• Online Organizing Systems & Resources
• Getting a Good Calendar or Organizer
• Being Consistent

Well, until I had my son, I could never keep up with a calendar. However in the past year, doctor's appointments, counseling, dentist appointments, school closings, day care, and Girl Scouts with my step daughter have made it absolutely necessary to keep track of the family's activities. A few times I had lost my calendar, however I would always find it under the clutter and get right back on track. I found a method and I have to stick with it otherwise I will get confused.

When I started blogging, I took Jessica's advice to track things using Google Calendar. That did not last very long, because I do much better when things are written down rather than online. This allows me to plan on the go, as well as visually see at a glance what is coming up. I did want to keep up with Google Calendar because it has the feature of auto email and pop up reminders. However I cannot guarantee that I will be sitting at my computer when I need to be. So until there is a time that will actually be more convenient than my small paper calendar notebook, I am just going to stick it out the old pen and paper way.

So, with all that being said, I would like to interject that not only should you be consistent in whatever method you go with, you should find a method or tool that works into your life now.

Don't forget to enter to win a set of custom napkin rings for the New Year. It ends tomorrow!

15 Days of New Years Resolution ~ Day 2

Okay I must admit that this resolution I am not adopting, even though I should. Today's new resolution suggestion from Jessica is "Better Budgeting."

My family has many issues in this department, however I have a major problem with getting my husband on track 100% of the time. So, all my carefully laid out plans fall flat on their face after no more than a week.

So, I guess for this day, I will add "Get my husband on the better finance track." (LMAO! Oh I had to crack up while I was typing that.)

So, if you have any ideas to help me with this goal, feel free to leave a comment below for me.

Don't forget to enter to Win a set of custom napkin rings for the New Year.

15 Days of New Years Resolution ~ Day 1

Ok, so this started yesterday and I was a part of it, but I forgot to post the information here. Sorry... please forgive me. However I am sure you got your fill of me yesterday with my 16 Days and Unconscious Mutterings.

So, just quickly, Jessica Knows is having a wonderfully great and helpful series to those who want to get the New Year started on the right foot, 15 Days of New Years Resolutions. Yesterday it began, and I signed up with 43Things.com (again) to keep track of my goals and progress.

Also, I 'subscribed' through 43Things to all the women that are following Jessica Knows series so that when they come up with a new goal, I can cheer them on. Unfortunately, you are limited to only 5 cheers a day I think, so this isn't helpful if you have 10+ people that start a new goal per day. However, I will check out their blogs, etc and keep up with motivating them as I would love for others to motivate me.

So, check out Jessica series (start here to find out more about it), then check me and the others out on 43Things.com, and join us. We are also twittering about it using the hashtag #15DaysNYE. Simply go to Summize.com and type in '#15DaysNYE' and it should bring up all tweets including that tag. If you need help, simply email me at mel.bail.mama {at} gmail {dot} com or tweet me @Mama4Kids.

Don't forget to enter to Win a set of custom napkin rings for the New Year.

15 Days of Marketing ~ Day 7

Start following this series with Day 1 here.

Day7

Well, I am not really interested in following the bio portion of this day as Jessica says we should. Also, Blogger only allows a 1200 character "About Me" section, and I have pretty much covered the basics about me. If you need to know more, then read my blog entries. Lol.

As for the press page, well it would be very bare at this point. I haven't exchanged links with anyone. Just like my posts of late are mentioning, I don't have a niche besides being a mom. So, when others ask me for a description of my blog, I just sit there scratching my head. Of course, this has only happened once, and I still haven't responded to her email.

What is my niche?

So, it has been pointed out that I don't really have a niche on this blog, or at least one is not directly referenced anywhere. Well, yes, you caught me. As I have said before, I am a new blogger. I am trying to find my niche, my way, and grow a readership while I am at it. I have been following JessicaKnows' 15 days of Marketing, which started out easy but then I got stuck.

Being so new, I don't have any contacts and barely any tweeps that I keep a consistent daily banter with. I sort of jump into conversations very unannounced and often very unappreciated. Yes, that is making me feel insecure, unwelcome, and unmotivated to keep going. However, I just keep at it and hope that I will find my niche.

I have also read in so many places that the best way to receive feedback for how you are doing is to ask. Well, correct me if I am wrong, but I have been asking. I am practically blue in the face over it. And what do I have to show for all the questions I shovel out on a daily basis? Zippo! Am I asking the wrong questions to the wrong crowd? Or am I just being too overexcited with this whole blogging thing? Perhaps it is not for me. Well, back to the first issue, what is my blog about?

Well, I am a mom. I love to write, surf the Internet, read, play video games or computer games, learn new things, and all the while develop myself into a better person. I am here to share my journey, my experiences, and my discoveries.

I am also here to offer a hand or ear or anything else needed to others in my place or similar. I have always known what it is like to suddenly be thrust into a new area with no one beside you. I was a Marine brat (kid) for my whole childhood. I moved every two or three years to a new state, and was forced to make new friends, learn new cultures, and keep learning and growing while I was at it.

For better or worse, that was my life and it made me who I am. So, there... I am not sure what that makes me, because I do not think I am as clever as most in this blogging spectrum. I guess I will just keep reaching out and growing, and possibly just find out what I can offer to others.

15 Days of Marketing ~ Day 6

Start following this series with Day 1 here.

Day 6

I have not had much time to myself, let alone would I be able to find a few minutes a day to read. So, I will be putting off the reading part of this day's homework assignment.


√ In the meantime I did mange to subscribe too all the blog feeds she suggested. On top of that, I followed any and all of those blog authors on Twitter (is they were there), and made quite a dent in adding others to follow based on their followings. Actually, since I brought this up, I have quite the Twitter network growing. I am not sure what it is because, however I do have to say that it is not very effective. I only get responses from very few tweeps. I wish more of them out there would convo with me or just stop following so I don't keep thinking that I am being heard when no one really cares.

15 Days of Marketing ~ Day 4

I have been working on this one and Day 5 for awhile, but I forgot to post my progress on it yesterday. So, today I will type of this post and Day 5's post, back to back. Also, just to keep any new readers up to date, this goes along with Jessica's 15 Days of Marketing on her blog JessicaKnows. So, if you are lost on what I am doing, read her series, because I am only posting my progress on my blog.

Day 4: Part 1

√I signed up with Twellow and followed Sarah Evans' advice to add a few pages worth of PR tweeps to follow.

Day 4: Part 2

√I have just begun to get a line written that I can use to send to all those that follow me (or follow back) that includes the link to this blog.
√I always include #15days in my tweets that have anything to do with my progress in the series. Just go to summize.com and type in "15days" or "#15days" and I will usually be near the top (@mama4kids).

15 Days of Marketing ~ Day 3

Start following this series with Day 1 here.

Day 3

I started this task days ago, but I wanted to post in working order. This day was simple, I was having trouble getting my camera to work and then my recording volume wasn’t working. However then my hubby fixed it for me the other night, and I was able to get started yesterday morning.

Out of the three options:

1. Start vlogging.
2. Sign up for 12seconds.tv
3. Confess in your blog posts, be real.

I am vlogging on 12seconds.tv http://12seconds.tv/channel/Mama4Kids Check me out and follow. Also, I am pretty sure that I am ‘being real’ here on my blog, so you could say I have all three of these covered, even though only one was required.

I will be taking a break for the holidays on this and working to launch this new blog at Blogger. I will begin again with Day 4 on Monday December 1st. Also, don't forget to subscribe to my feed to be the first to receive my updates.

15 Days of Marketing ~ Day 2

Today, marks Day 2 of me following JessicaKnows tips on her 15 Days of Marketing series. If you missed Day 1, read it here.

Day 2

1. √ I signed up with Mom Central, Mom Select, and One2One Network. And I am considering signing up with more, just because I love free stuff.
2. √ I have signed up for an account on WishPot, and begun to add products to my many wishlists. Also, it has features to write product reviews which will help me with step 4 of Day 1.
3. √ I applied for a spot on Blissfully Domestic, because I love their site. Then I signed up with Type-A Mom and I love their simplicity much more than the others.
4. √ I have signed up with NewsVine, however I am still at a loss of where to begin. I am not much a news person.

15 Days of Marketing by Jessica Knows ~ Day 1

For those of you that don’t know, Jessica knows something that you need to know (lol). JessicaKnows is a great blog for many reasons, but today I am deciding to follow her 15 Days of Marketing series to help better my Internet presence and this very blog.

I’m not going to go into much detail about what she tells us to do, because I would love for you all to get the full picture by visiting her blog and reading the series for yourselves. Instead, my postings are going to be my write-ups for my progress and the answers to the “homework assignments” she gives us.
I am also going to be posting my progress on Twitter occasionally and in the “15days” group on Twitter Moms. So, you can link up with me in both of those places as well.

Day 1
1. Include your contact info on your blog to make it more PR friendly.
√ Email: mel (dot) bail (dot) mama (at) gmail (dot) com [they didn't have an easier email name available that I liked]
√ Twitter: @mama4kids
2. √ Sign up for HARO.
3. √ Sign up with GetClicky.
4. Write some product reviews to get exposure in the PR world. [Haven't started this one yet, but when I do you will see then on this blog.]

Homework
3 Favorite Brands:

1. VTech ~ My son has so many VTech toys, and I remember my first laptop [very basic edition in black and white] was a VTech as well. Their toys are educational, fundamental, safe, reliable, and fun.
2. Sony ~ Our whole house is practically filled with Sony products, and my husband can barely pry himself away from the Playstation3 (especially now that he was finally invited to Beta test “Home”).
3. LG ~ I have loved LG for quite some time. At first, only knew about their cell phones (which all of my phones have been), however when I became an adult and now I see all the commercials for their ground breaking and awesomely unique products, I just want them ALL! Especially the washer and dryers